It will help local prosecutors fight financial crimes.
Frederick, Md (KM) There’s a partnership between the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office at the University of Maryland Smith School Business. Signed last week, it’s called Justice for Fraud Victims.
State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says in the past, many police departments and local prosecutors didn’t have the resources to deal with financial crimes, and couldn’t do anything about citizen complaints. “What was common was our response and that is ‘we can’t really help you until you figure out exactly where the money went because we don’t know whether it was a crime just yet,'” he says.
But he says that’s expected to change now that the State’s Attorneys’ Office is working with the University of Maryland. “We have to prove that someone stole it or embezzled it that we can prosecute this case and find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And that just wasn’t happening,” he said. “So we’re hoping that it will happen now with this collaboration we have with the University of Maryland.”
Smith says the University is using student volunteers who will investigate these financial crimes, and prepare a report. “These are a bunch of sharp kids and they’re really looking for this opportunity to kind of dig into these documents, open the books so to speak, and help these people find who it is who stole from them, embezzled from them, so that we as prosecutors can hold them accountable,” he says.,
These student volunteers will be mentored by financial experts, and in some cases, retired FBI agents.
This partnership is expected to make a difference, especially for victims of financial crimes. “Oh, it’s going to make a huge difference! It really is,” says Smith. “We’re going to be able to directly put these people in touch with somebody who’s going to help them do forensic examinations. And that’s really the first step in holding somebody accountable.”
This partnership with the University of Maryland Smith School of Business is similar to one with the Prince George’s County State’s Attorneys’ Office.
The Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office has an Economic Crimes Unit which is expected to be working with the University.
By Kevin McManus